Charles Leclerc took a surprising pole position for Ferrari in Monaco last month when the low-speed strength of the SF21 car put the team in the lead in competition with Red Bull and Mercedes.
Ferrari made suggestions that he could take pole again in the run-up to qualifying in Baku, just so that Leclerc could lead qualifying for the second race weekend in a row.
But Sunday proved to be tougher for Leclerc as he fell behind Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel, who ultimately crossed the finish line in fourth place.
Ferrari F1 boss Binotto admitted after the race that, given his starting position, the team “expected something better” and left Baku just two points ahead of McLaren in the battle for third place in the constructors’ championship.
But Binotto admitted that the pole positions were outliers and not a true reading of Ferrari’s current level of performance, falling behind Red Bull and Mercedes.
“I think there are obviously two cars ahead of us that are undoubtedly even stronger,” said Binotto.
“It was great to have pole position both in Monaco and here in Baku, but I don’t think that reflects our overall performance. I think there are two cars that are stronger.
“But we’re making progress. We progress because we eventually learn [about] We are making better use of the car compared to the start of the season. And we know there will be some developments in the future.
“So overall, I think we’re here. [In the race] I think we were hoping for a better pace overall than we saw in qualifying. “
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Although he saw Leclerc fall back on the soft tires in the first stint, Binotto was pleased with the pace of his and his teammate Carlos Sainz when he switched to the hard tires and drove in clean air.
“We knew we would have had problems on the soft side,” said Binotto.
“I think we actually struggled the most with the switch. On the hard tires we were competitive in the open air and I think Carlos was representative in free speed.
“Of course we still have to improve our pace in the race, no doubt about it. But I don’t think we had a bad performance overall in the open air.
“We suffered from the dirty air that both drivers mentioned and that is what we need to focus our analysis on.”
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